52ⁿᵈ Annual Pharmacology Colloquium

Friday, June 26, 2026
8:00 am - 5:30 pm

Registration & Submission Deadline is June 3, 2026

McGregor Memorial Conference Center

Colloquium Mission and Background

This long-standing colloquium convenes graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members from across the four universities – Wayne State University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and University of Toledo – covering a wide range of research areas, including neuropharmacology, molecular pharmacology of cell signaling, environmental sciences and toxicology, behavioral pharmacology, and cancer pharmacology.

Primary objectives of the colloquium are promoting programmatic synergy across the region and continuing the professional development of program trainees, with the annual event attracting 150 -200 participants.

This year, the colloquium is particularly excited to host our keynote speaker, Dr. Deborah Cory-Slechta, who – with her integrated research initiatives and accomplishments – will nurture continued growth of programmatic synergy across the four participating universities.

Keynote SpeakerDeborah Cory-Slechta, Ph.D.

Dr. Deborah Cory-Slechta is a widely recognized leader and an accomplished scientist at the programmatic interface between environmental health sciences, toxicological sciences, and neurodisease.

She became a faculty member at the University of Rochester Medical School (URMC) in 1982, going on to become Chair of its Department of Environmental Medicine and Director of the NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences Center in 1998.

In addition to serving as Dean for Research at the University of Rochester Medical School from 2000-2002, Dr. Cory-Slechta has served on numerous national review and advisory panels of the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Center for Toxicological Research, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Academy of Sciences, just to name a few.

Dr. Cory-Slechta's research has focused largely on the relationships between brain neurotransmitter systems and children's neurodevelopment, and how such relationships are altered by exposures to environmental toxicants, including the role played by environmental neurotoxicant exposures in developmental disabilities and neurodegenerative diseases. These research efforts have resulted in over 150 papers and book chapters to date.

Message from the Chair

We are excited to welcome you to Detroit for the 52nd Annual Michigan Pharmacology Colloquium, a tradition that brings together new and longtime colleagues from Ann Arbor, Detroit, Lansing, and Toledo, and one that keeps getting stronger each year.

It is a pleasure to host this year’s Colloquium at the beautiful McGregor Memorial Conference Center on our campus, designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki.

We are looking forward to a day brimming with science, conversation, and the kind of informal interactions that make this meeting special: students, postdocs, and faculty connecting over talks, posters, and shared meals.

We are particularly excited to welcome Dr. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta (Professor of Environmental Medicine, Neuroscience, and Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center) as our Keynote Speaker. Her work brings a powerful cross-disciplinary perspective, and we anticipate her lecture will provide a thematic throughline that resonates across our programs and sparks great discussion throughout the day.

I also want to express my sincere appreciation to my counterparts at Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Toledo for their support and enthusiastic engagement. And my thanks to the Wayne State Pharmacology Colloquium organizing committee for all the hard work that has gone into making this event possible.

See you soon!

Sokol Todi
Professor of Pharmacology and Neurology
Chair of Pharmacology